Bianca Balti
In 2000 she was just a rebel teenager wearing ragged jeans and working as a promoter in supermarket to gain her little independence. Now Bianca Balti is one of the most paid and worldwide known Italian supermodels, whose precious time is disputed between the most famous photographers as well as TV spots directors, who have to compete with a major and undoubtedly more important “adversary”: her four-years-old daughter.
Born in 1984 in Lodi, a little town next to Milan, Bianca Balti personifies the perfect Mediterranean woman. Not only for her beautiful curves, her long brown hair framing a pulpy mouth and her deep green eyes, but also for her character and lifestyle. She’s no doubt a beautiful woman, words are superfluous in front of her face, but she’s much more. First of all, she is the mother of Matilde, born in 2007 from her marriage (ended in 2010) with the Roman photographer Christian Lucidi. But when you ask to Matilde “What does your mother do?” she won’t answer “She works in an office”, nor “She’s a housewife”. She will answer “She is a top model” A successful Italian fashion model, to say it right.
Bianca Balti has worked for the most important fashion houses of the world, and modeled in front of the camera of the most famous photographers. Her career started in 2005, when she was twenty. She was studying communication design at the Politecnico di Milano, living with other friends and working as a promoter in supermarkets because she wanted to own her little independence, just as many other girls do. But Bianca was not a common girl. Behind her colored hair and piercing, and the rebel look she had choose to distract the attention from this too thin body she hated (she thought boys like only women with curves, and she wasn’t one of them!) she was hiding a future Italian supermodel. Her first recruitment came from Dolce&Gabbana, who noticed and choose her personally. From then on, her life was a continuous rising, from the community centers she used to hang out at, to the catwalks of Milan, New York and Paris.
Valentino, Roberto Cavalli, Armani Jeans, Pollini, Cesare Paciotti, Diesel, are just a few of the worldwide known fashion maisons that used the Italian supermodel’s image to promote their collections. Bianca Balti has become one of the favorite models of Missoni, for which she has walked down the runways several times and modeled for the advertisement campaigns of 2005 and 2008. She’s also famous in the lingerie sector, being the face, or better, the body, of many campaigns of La Perla, the catalogue of the Italian underwear brand Intimissimi and of Victoria’s Secret. The Italian top model has also been chosen as the testimonial of the launch of many fragrances and perfumes, like “Black XS” by Paco Rabanne or the women’s fragrance “Bellissima” by Blumarine, as well as many make-up collections by Christian Dior or Guerlain for example.
The Italian fashion model’s face appeared also in the most important fashion magazines of the globe. Vogue, Vanity Fair, Marie Claire, Elle Italia or the English Harper’s Bazaar are just a few of the glossy papers who dedicated to her articles, photo sessions or even cover stories, just as Playboy France did in 2009. The Italian magazine Velvet, launched by La Repubblica in 2006, choose Bianca Balti to appear in its first cover. Her list of works include also calendars: the Italian top model appears next to the supermodels Selita Ebanks and Marisa Miller for the 2009 edition of the calendar Wurth and we can actually see her face in the 2011 edition of the most famous calendar in the world: the Pirelli.
Recently, Bianca Balti “stepped” in every Italian house with a famous TV spot for one of the most important mobile phone operators of the country. She plays a funny Mona Lisa who’s chewing a gum while portrayed. This wasn’t the only spot the Italian supermodel has done, nor the only time she played a role. In fact, Bianca Balti crossed the line between fashion and cinema in 2007, debuting as an actress in the film “Go go tales” by the American film maker Abel Ferrara. Soon she was walking down the red carpet next to the famous Italian film stars Asia Argento and Stefania Rocca.
The once little rebel and too thin girl is now a successful Italian supermodel, her face portrayed in posters all over the world, and a super-mother, who puts her daughter in first place and who’s engaged with children-helping initiatives. Bianca Balti is also interested in politics, an active feminist, and when she has a little bit of free time, she loves reading and listening to her favorite music. In short, a normal woman with a not-so-normal career.